


Familiar Faces

by rhodrymavelyne



Series: More Than a Jinrou [13]
Category: Shiki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 17:10:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20411338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: Natsuno meant to give both Tatsumi and Toshio space to be with the people they still love, but he's running into some familiar faces at the club, faces he really didn't want to see again, especially together.





	Familiar Faces

**Author's Note:**

> This is Part 13 of my ongoing series, More than a Jinrou. I don't think I'm straying too far from the canon by thinking Akira had a huge, hero-worshipping crush on Natsuno in the anime. (wry grin) He definitely does here. :)
> 
> I don't own Shiki, but sometimes it owns me. :)=

The bright lights hurt Natsuno’s eyes. Everyone and everything throbbed, too close. 

No, this was normal. This was to be expected in a club in a big city. This was what he had asked for. Exactly what he’d asked for.

Natsuno lifted a hand, willed it to stop trembling. Sunako and Tatsumi had been a part of each other’s lives…unlives? for so long. They’d been allies long before Tatsumi sought any sort of a connection with the rebellious kid who’d tried to tear everything he was building down. 

Strange. It had infuriated him once, the way Tatsumi disregarded him, the way he disregarded so many of the villagers he’d forced to adapt to an undead lifestyle. Like Tohru-chan. Not to mention those he’d been willing to sacrifice as food like Akira. 

Seeing Tatsumi with Sunako made Natsuno aware that there was so more to his former enemy that he let show. The younger jinrou had tasted it in his blood, in the visions he brought. That moment in the back room just made it all real. 

Natsuno took a deep breath, let himself savour the sensation. Even if he ended up losing both of his lovers to the ones Toshio and Tatsumi truly wished to be with, he could still breathe. He should be able to breathe. 

“Maybe I really am too much of a gentleman,” he murmured, allowing himself to smile. It didn’t matter if anyone noticed. One more crazy kid on the dance floor wasn’t going to attract attention. 

He was wrong.

“Nii-chan?”

Swifter than the human eye could follow, Natsuno ducked behind a raised block at the sound of that voice. 

The lithe dancer glanced on top of the block glanced at him with darkened eyes, tossing blue curls over his shoulder. The jinrou couldn’t tell if he was a shiki or just wearing black contacts. 

Natsuno swallowed, dared to peek around the block. 

Tanaka Akira stood in the middle of the strobbing lights, staring at the spot where he’d been. 

Gone were the t-shirts and sandals the younger boy ran around in whenever he wasn’t forced into a school uniform. Akira now wore a black vest with silver studs. A matching collar circled his neck over a low-cut cowl. The starfish auburn hair was the same, though, as was the earnest eagerness in his hazel eyes. 

What was he doing in this place? The last time Natsuno had seen Akira or Kaori was the hospital in Mizobe. 

A man’s broad shadow slipped in between Natsuno and Akira. For a moment, the young jinrou dared to relax until he saw how that shape loom over the boy, caught a whiff of a predatory interest in the man’s intake of breath. 

“Tanaka Akira-kun?” The voice was cultured, pleasant, and terrifying familar. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me here.”

No. Oh, no. It couldn’t be. Not him. Not here, not now. Not with Akira of all people…

“Shinma Shigure-sensei.” Natsuno could see Akira frowning, trying to see over his shoulder. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come.”

The jinrou swallowed all of the conflicting emotions welling up inside. It was him. Shinma Shigure-sensei. 

All Natsuno had to do was close his eyes and he’d smell the chalk on the boards, hear the heavy breathing, taste the forceful passion overwhelming him. He could feel the hardness of the ground beneath him, the man standing over him, straightening his tie. 

“Don’t tell anyone, Natsuno-kun.” He could see the cold glint in those eyes, assessing him. “I’m a married man, remember?” 

A married man, yes, who’d later blamed Natsuno for what happened. Natsuno hadn’t questioned this. After all, he’d wanted it. He hadn’t regretted it, had he?

Only being caught by his father almost immediately afterwards with torn clothes had ended in banishment to Sotoba. This banishment had literally killed Natsuno. Or perhaps it had killed the boy he used to be, leaving him something he no longer recognized. 

Talk about actions have consequences. It had all begun because Natsuno touched the wrong people. It had just been a casual touch, but it had been enough. Enough for Sensei. Enough for Shimizu. 

Natsuno hadn’t really questioned this, not until Tatsumi shared his memories. His accusations echoed in his head, pounding in time with the music. 

*What that man did was a crime. I know all about excuses for attacking people.*

Natsuno could smell the lust rising off his old teacher as he faced another boy, a young vulnerable boy. This boy was truly innocent. For the first time, he wondered if maybe it wasn’t his fault. 

If it wasn’t, Akira was in danger. 

It was happening again. 

Once more he smelled the night air, the whiff of Akira’s panic, and the dusty aroma of death, carried on the air through the trees of Sotoba. 

Natsuno hadn’t wanted to reveal himself. He’d warned Toshio not to get too heroic before their one chance to stop the shiki. 

Only he couldn’t ignore Akira. The boy kept whispering his name like a prayer, bent on staking the monster during the day, completely forgetting about the monsters who watched them, who were still awake. 

In the end, Akira ended up whimpering behind a gag, unable to scream. The hungry predator turned to regard him, rising from his grave…

…only to get a stake right in the chest.

The boy gazed at him with teary eyes, not seeing the monster, the little fool, the predator who could eat him.

Now it was happening again. A predator had Akira in his sights, a predator who’d get him if Natsuno didn’t act. 

Only Shinma-sensei made no move towards Akira. He simply put his hands in his pockets and glanced at the dancers on the blocks. 

“How could I not? Yuuki Natsuno was one of my brightest, most promising students.” Shinma-sensei let out a sigh. “My classroom was never the same after he left. You said he lived in Sotoba, your village. Before it burned to the ground, killing so many people.” The man allowed one hand to curl into a light fist. “Such a tragedy.”

“Nii-chan, I mean Natsuno wasn’t one of them.” Akira glanced down. “He saved my sister and myself, got us out of Sotoba before the fire. We never saw him again.” 

“He didn’t leave any way of contacting him?” Natsuno detected the slight vibration in his voice, of uncertainty and eagerness. “Have you tried his parents?”

“Both of them.” Akira dropped his head. “Yuuki-san thinks his son is dead. Nii-chan’s mother wasn’t very coherent.”

Natsuno shut his eyes. It was better this way. Yes, his parents mourned him, but how could they handle the truth? He was still figuring out how to handle it. 

“Was there anyone else?” His teacher’s voice sharpened. “Anyone he was close to in the village? Someone he might have gone to for shelter instead of you?”

Why was Shinma-sensei still interested in him? He’d washed his hands of Natsuno. For that matter, why was he talking to Akira?

The jinrou leaned against the block, pressed his forehead against it. Did he really want to know the answer to the last question?

The dancer glanced down at him again with deep blue eyes, not showing a hint of shiki darkness. Perhaps Natsuno had imagined it. 

“You believe me, don’t you, Shinma-sensei?” Akira fixed his hopeless eyes upon the older man. “About the okiagari? No one believes me unless they lived through it.” The boy bit his lip. “Even my sister keeps trying to explain it all away.”

“It must have been a very traumatic event. Not everyone can deal with such trauma.” Shinma lay his hand upon Akira’s shoulder. “You’re very brave to be facing it, even if it means dealing with the loss of those close to you.”

Natsuno shuddered at that kind, encouraging tone. Shinma-sensei used to use it on him, all the time. Looking at him as if he’d just done something special, something to be proud of. 

It was addictive, having someone talk to you like that. Now Shinma-sensei was doing it to Akira. Telling him how brave he was. 

It was true. Akira had been brave. Only Natsuno distrusted this manner along with the casual touch. Once he’d opened the doors to doubts about his teacher’s character, he didn’t trust anything. 

“We lost everything. Our parents. Our villages.” Akira’s lower lip trembled. “If there’s a way to get something back, to get Nii-chan back…that’s why I posted that message online. I’d hoped maybe he’d answer.” The boy’s shoulders slumped. 

“Instead you found me. I’ve been trying to locate Natsuno-kun for some time, yet he’s eluded me, too.” Frustration, longing, and something almost hungry wafted off the man’s shoulders. 

The young jinrou caught a whiff of it and flinched. Yes, he’d been truly missed. There was more to this, though. More than just finding vulnerable boys in clubs and preying upon their sadness. 

“I’ve been in contact with a relative of his who is quite anxious to find Natsuno-kun.” Shinma-sensei glanced around the club, the various teenagers in skimpy, steampunk attire. “He’s certain that eventually he’d come to this club.” 

“I thought I’d just spotted him.” Akira shook his head. “It may have been my imagination. I think I see him everywhere.” 

No way. This couldn’t be true. Shinma-sensei knew a relative of his? Someone who wanted to find Natsuno? It couldn’t be true. 

Could it?

“You must have cared for him a great deal.” Once again, his former teacher’s tone was kind, sympathetic. Akira would need to have superhuman hearing to notice the slight, probing eagerness. “Natsuno-kun wasn’t in Sotoba for very long, yet he made quite the impression on you.”

“I…he…” Akira’s cheeks turned bright red. “He was the first hero I ever met, the first real hero. He saw what was happening in Sotoba and he didn’t turn away. Even though the odds were against us, he tried to fight.”

“Fight the okiagari?” Shinma-sensei tilted his head to one side. There was no mockery or condescension in his voice, just curiosity. “How did he propose to do that?” 

“Well, first we dug up the grave of an old friend he’d seen after she died.” Akira bit his lip. “Not that she stayed a friend. She tried to kill us all.”

“Including Natsuno?” The slight, probing eagerness returned to his former teacher’s voice. “Did she bite him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Akira frowned. “Someone bit him, one of the shiki. Someone who refused to let him go. Nii-chan had a hard time speaking about it.”

“What did he tell you?” Shinma-sensei’s fingers dug into Akira’s shoulder. “Akira, it’s very important. If the vampire who bit Natsuno-kun refused to let him go, that vampire might have kept Natsuno-kun even after he’d drained him dry.”

“You mean after Nii-chan…” Akira shuddered his way out of the former teacher’s grip, backing away from him. 

“After he’d risen.” Shinma’s voice was very firm on his point. “From everything you’ve told me, Akira, Natsuno was very weak for a while from being fed on by vampires.”

“We tried to protect him.” Akira bowed his head. “One morning Kaori and I came to his door. His father was acting crazy. Someone outside said someone had died. I knew…I knew the okiagari had got him.”

“Only you saw him later. He saved you from a vampire.” Shinma’s voice was very firm. “He was able to drive a stake into the vampire’s heart.” 

“It was something out of a dream,” Akira whispered. “I prayed to him and Nii-chan came. He saved me from the monster.” 

Natsuno shut his eyes. He’d been lucky. The vampire had just woken up, hungry. His attention had been completely focused on the tasty little mortal tied up for him, special courtesy of Tatsumi, no doubt. Natsuno had been able to sneak up on him from behind. 

It wasn’t worth this awe, this hero-worship. None of it was worth it. Akira shouldn’t be suffering this much over him. 

“He appeared with the energy and strength to drive a stake in a vampire’s heart.” Shinma murmured the words with slow deliberation. “Natsuno must have obtained the power of a vampire himself. Or power equal to one. He couldn’t have done that otherwise.”

“He might!” Akira protested. “Nii-chan once got an okiagari with a shovel who attacked my sister!” 

Again, Natsuno had been lucky. Or had he been? He’d charged straight at that vampire and slammed the only weapon he had into his face. He could still recall the vibrating, the tingling running through his fingers which made them tremble for hours. 

It had been the first time he’d ever attacked another sentient creature, even if he hadn’t been alive. At the time, Natsuno had been convinced that was all that feeling was. A reaction to violence. 

“Did he? That’s interesting.” The intense interest, the probing returned to his voice. “I’d really like to hear all about it, the entire story.”

“I told you a lot online. I can’t believe I said so much.” Akira rubbed his eyes. “I’m not sure why I’m telling you so much now.”

“It’s because I’m a link to Natsuno-kun, just as you are.” Shinma-sensei softened his words into something gentle, almost intimate. “Perhaps together we can find him again.” 

“I hope so.” Akira slumped forward, stared at his feet. “My sister wants to forget it all happened. Everyone wants to just pretend it wasn’t real. The okaegari. People we’d known all our lives dying, rising, returning to hurt their family and friends.”

“You need to talk.” Shinma-sensei’s voice was firm, certain, even when it was kind. “Let’s leave this place and go talk.” 

“Yeah.” Akira let the older man lead him by the shoulder out of the club. 

Oh, no. No. Natsuno couldn’t let Shinma-sensei take Akira away. Not even if it meant revealing himself. 

He lunged forward, unsure how fast he was moving. 

“What?” A few drugged looking teenagers turned to blink at the blur where he’d been, but Natsuno was a blurry streak as far as mortals were concerned. 

He dove at Akira, pushing the younger boy, who was as tall and lanky as Natsuno now away from the teacher. 

“What? What are you…” Akira started to bluster, only to stop and stare at him. “Nii-chan!”

Natsuno looked away, unable to bear the tears in those eyes. A pain wrenched through his chest, temples, and head. 

Gritting his teeth, he looked up at the man who’d once meant everything to him.

“Why, hello, Natsuno-kun.” Shinma-sensei smiled, stroking his chest. The top button was undone. A medallion was underneath his shirt, which gleamed with a bluish light in spite of its gold color. “I was truly hoping if I looked up some of your old friends, I’d find you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've finally given a name to the perverted teacher who took advantage of Natsuno, Shinma Shigure. He's an original character and part of the reason why Natsuno's father left the city and went to Sotoba. (See my related story, Too Soon, Too Late.


End file.
